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Arsenal: Arsene Wenger blame game is now ingrained in Gunners’ mentality

By Craig Pearson

SUTTON, GREATER LONDON - FEBRUARY 20: Arsene Wenger manager of Arsenal during The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Sutton United and Arsenal on February 20, 2017 in Sutton, Greater London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
SUTTON, GREATER LONDON - FEBRUARY 20: Arsene Wenger manager of Arsenal during The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Sutton United and Arsenal on February 20, 2017 in Sutton, Greater London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Arsene Wenger once again predictably played the blame game after Arsenal were humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Arsenal really are the unluckiest team in the world. All the embarrassing defeats, capitulations and a penchant for doing it all over again. Yet none of it is the fault of Arsene Wenger or his players. Never. It’s amazing.

It might be the referee, the linesman, bad luck or just an off-day that everybody has – it could be anything. But no matter how bad things seem to get at the Emirates, everything is just rosy internally. We’re okay. We would of won if this, or if that. It wasn’t our fault.

It’s always somebody else’s fault. Or somebody else was the reason why Arsenal didn’t get what they deserved. That is the mentality at the club. The mentality of the club’s leader Arsene Wenger. Nobody is held accountable. Nobody within the club is ever to blame.

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Once again, after the Gunners were embarrassed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, it was somebody else’s fault. The referee this time for, in Wenger’s assertion, wrongly sending off Laurent Koscielny and rewarding Bayern with a penalty.

You can argue all day about refereeing decisions, they go against everybody at times. But let’s suppose, for arguments sake, that Arsenal were harshly treated by the referee. The game was 1-1 – 6-2 on aggregate – at the time and you’re down to 10 men. You have zero chance of winning this tie.

How did your team handle the situation you were in, Arsene? Terribly, as usual. Any kind of adversity and Arsenal usually back out without not so much of a snarl in defiance. This was no different. They take their loss and then allow Wenger to face the music.

That is the story again. Repetitive capitulation. Of course, Wenger still blames somebody else, and the players then have no reason not to carry on as they are. There’s just no accountability. Not even for Wenger himself.

Why didn’t the Arsenal boss bring on a center-back to fill Koscielny’s position? Was that not an error? Instead, Granit Xhaka tried his hand in defense and the results spoke for themselves. Why didn’t Wenger close things up once down to 10 men? What were the Gunners playing so open for?

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Either Wenger was irrationally optimistic thinking that his team could still turn the tie around or….. or what? What even is the alternative? Ultimately, even if a decision does unfairly go against you, and then you either draw or lose – that’s one thing.

But Arsenal? They don’t do that. Instead, they get absolutely slaughtered. They play the only way they know how. No adjustments. No adaptability. And Wenger didn’t say after the game that perhaps he should have been more cautious or made a different change. No.

Instead he said that he can’t win either way. Attack and we get pummelled, defend and we are called negative. That’s paranoia right there. That’s what that is. Nobody would criticise Arsenal, in that position, for tightening things up and playing more conservatively. It’s common sense.

Unfortunately, it’s ingrained in the Arsenal mentality now that it is okay to fail. Play to win, but if it doesn’t work out, then don’t worry about it. It happens. That mentality is set by the manager. It has been for years and years now.

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Even with Wenger coming under fire this season, still the players continue to capitulate and then hide. They can’t even fight back in order to save their boss now. It’s a sorry mentality. But that’s what happens when something is in your DNA.

It’s too deep-rooted for this manager and many of these players to change now. As long as they are around, Arsenal will always be the unluckiest team around. Or at least that’s what Wenger will insist, anyway.

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